Commissioners heard from Osage County EMS. OCEMS is under the umbrella of Techs, Inc. Chief executive officers Bret Teter and Jay Watkins, along with Osage County EMS director Donna Connell presented a year-end report to the commission.

“One of the things I have really thought about all year, when we started this venture in Osage County, was we were told very sternly, from others, that it wouldn’t work,” Watkins said. “I feel in my own heart that we will surpass anything that has happened in previous year. Our roster is 40 people and you would not believe the amount of people in Osage County that work for us.”

OCEMS has four ambulances stationed throughout the county, two in Osage City, one in Carbondale and one shared use ambulance with Melvern.

“We normally staff two ambulances, but Donna took initiative to staff all four ambulances today for New Year’s and possible bad weather complications,” Teter said. “Before, you had one ambulance, but the wait time for a second unit was over 20 minutes.”